Review of Begin Again (2014) by Reellm — 22 Jul 2015

4/5★ I loved Director John Carney's Once. That movie is a gem. Begin Again, while good in its own right, does not measure up to Once. It's a charming movie, with complex characters and a non-edginess that is refreshing, but part of the charm of Once was the anonymity of the cast, the lack of preconceptions made the movie more enjoyable: I was distracted, thinking about the fact that that was Keira Knightly, singing better then I thought she could: Was she being dubbed? And was Adam Levine just playing himself? All this was distracting me from fully enjoying the movie, which is too bad because it is a good film.

Another comparison with Once: A plot point in Begin Again is authenticity vs. selling out. I'm not saying the Carney sold out, but Begin Again does have a whiff of over-producing, of mainstream focus. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference.

Verdict: Enjoy.